The disclosure relates to a smear transporting apparatus, a smear image capture system, and a smear analysis system.
Heretofore, there has been known a microscope system in which: a smear slide being a microscope slide on which a biological sample (for example, blood) is smeared is transported to a microscope unit, and the microscope unit captures an image of the smear slide (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2012-13954 (Patent Literature 1)).
As illustrated in FIG. 15, the microscope system described in Patent Literature 1 is configured such that smear slide 300 whose image is to be captured is taken out from multi-sheet cassette 301 accommodating smear slides 300, and after the microscope unit completes the image capturing, smear slide 300 whose image has been captured is returned to multi-sheet cassette 301. Carriage 303 attached to prop 302 movably in a vertical direction is provided with supply arm 304 and discharge arm 305. Supply arm 304 supplies stage 306 of the microscope unit with smear slide 300 in multi-sheet cassette 301. Discharge arm 305 discharges smear slide 300 from this stage 306.
A smear container such as the multi-sheet cassette described in Patent Literature 1 sometimes contains not only smear slides whose images are to be captured, but also smear slides whose images are not to be captured, for example, smear slides to be visually observed by the user. In a case where an image of a smear slide is automatically captured, an immersion oil is generally dropped on the smeared surface for the image capturing as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-70932. In a case where an image of a smear slide is captured using an immersion oil, the oil adheres to the smear slide. Hence, the smear slide returned to a multi-sheet cassette after the image capturing may cause the oil contamination of smear slides whose images are not to be captured and which are accommodated in the multi-sheet cassette. This may consequently decrease the handleability of smear slides in performing the visual observation.
In addition, heretofore, there has been known a smear transporting apparatus which transfers a smear slide prepared by a smear preparing apparatus to a smear image capture apparatus and accommodates the smear slide after its image has been captured (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-70926 (Patent Literature 2)).
As illustrated in FIG. 24, the above-mentioned Patent Literature 2 describes smear transporting apparatus 403 which transports smear slide 400 from smear preparing apparatus 402 to smear image capture apparatus 401 and accommodates smear slide 400 whose image has been captured in rack 404. Smear image capture apparatus 401 of Patent Literature 2 puts immersion liquid in between an objective lens and smear slide 400 and increases numerical aperture of the objective lens to obtain a clear image. In this case, while smear slide 400 is transferred after an image of smear slide 400 is captured, the liquid attached to smear slide 400 may drop into smear transporting apparatus 403, which may result in contamination of an area where the liquid has dropped. Thus, smear transporting apparatus 403 is configured to include liquid receipt plate 403b under the transportation path of image-captured smear slide 400, to receive liquids dropped from transporting smear slide 400 with liquid receipt plate 403b, and to accommodate image-captured smear slide 400 in rack 404 above liquid receipt tray 403a. 
The smear transporting apparatus illustrated in Patent Literature 2 requires to transfer and place an image-captured smear slide in a rack only in the area of a liquid receipt plate and a liquid receipt tray. It is desirable to enhance the flexibility of design of the smear transporting apparatus.